And last but not least I realized that Switzerland isn’t that different from Texas: At least some interests are mutual!Und zu guter Letzt kann ich bemerken, dass es in der Schweiz gar nicht so anders ist als in Texas: Gleiche Interessen gibts auf jeden Fall!

I’ve been living in the U.S. for a little over 2 years now and it’s been almost a year since my last visit to Switzerland and as swiftly as that have I been Americanized – to my better half’s delight.* (Für Deutsch hier klicken)

When arriving in Zurich the usual first impressions hit me: The toilet flush that swirls the water down the pipe instead of sucking it out; the meticulous cleanliness; the timeliness of public transportation and – public transportation in general!

Swiss vs. Texas tea spoon 🙂

These observations are obvious enough but there’s small things that hit me now such as when I made coffee in the morning and only seemed to find Espresso spoons in my mum’s kitchen drawer. Until she assured me that these are regular coffee spoons. They seem so incredibly tiny.

1st floor, ground floor, upper level??!?

Or yesterday at the train station when a sign announced that the ticket office moved up to the 1st floor… which made me hunt around the ground floor (which of course in the U.S is the 1st floor). I’m confused here people!!

Well, at least there’s a few things that don’t change: Any Swiss bread is still as good as I remember it and thus is bread that deserves the name. It’s not as overly soft as toast. There’s no disturbing holes as they put them in bagels. A crusty-looking crust actually is crusty. And there’s so many variations that your eyes are in danger of going into overload. How wonderful!

Casual cheese selection.

But my real first culinary highlight happened right away during our first breakfast on Saturday: I cut myself a piece of the first cheese available – and I couldn’t believe how creamy and flavorful it was… truly like music on my tongue!! Quite frankly: I think I’m in danger of reversing the impression that one only gains weight when staying in the U.S. 🙂

*The reason my better half is delighted about my confusion is that I finally understand his initial confusion when first arriving in Switzerland almost 10 years ago.

I really wonder what it is about me that makes people think I might leave the country – and never come back. Not sure where people get this notion from but I’ve never done that – at least not without announcing it well in advance.

And still: When my boss lately realized that I will be in Switzerland in two weeks time he announced how happy he was for me – but asked me to please come back. Which made me aware that my previous supervisor and several friends and colleagues have passed similar comments over time.

Seems like I give off a vibe of either spontaneous adventurism or panicked abandonment. And it looks like some things never change – no matter where on this planet you are.

We gave it another shot. Once again we were headed towards the Gulf of Mexico last Saturday, this time applying the knowledge my better half gained through extensive research: We were going to go the extra mile, so to say, and drive out to the island that protects the bay of Corpus Christi from the open Gulf of Mexico. The place we were heading for was Port Aransas on Mustang Island. (Für Deutsch hier klicken)

Beach at Port Aransas… white, fine sand as far as the eye can see.

According to reports on the Internet jellyfish season on Texas coasts last from spring to late fall, some natives even claim it’s a year round thing. But apparently jellyfish, which drift with the current, oftentimes get stuck within the bay of Corpus Christi, unable to swim out by themselves as the most common jellyfish in the area, the moon jellyfish, are only capable of limited motion. So they depend on the current taking them back into the open waters of the gulf.

We arrived by the beach somewhere between 1 and 2pm due to me sleeping longer than anticipated (I set my alarm for PM instead of AM… stupid 12 hour time system…) and because we got caught up in a pretty bad traffic jam that was thankfully only starting to build up but Google maps indicated that 4 accidents in a row had happened.

The famous USS Lexington – it’s huge!

That seems quite incredible and I still wonder if it was the same one or two accidents only being reported several times. Anyway, we were able to get around it and thus to the beach at a still acceptable time. But we immediately called off any thought of visiting the USS Lexington. Again. And we still plan on coming back just for that. After all, the Lexington is a movie star: All of the aircraft take off scenes in the movie Pearl Harbor, meaning both American and Japanese, were filmed on the museum ship anchored in the bay of Corpus Christi.

The marshes on our way back towards the mainland… something building up in the distance.

Even though we had a lot of fun on our last trip I have to say: The swimming experience this time was ways better. The gulf waters are almost as warm as the bay waters but soooo much clearer. We could see our feet standing hip deep in the water. Plus: No jellyfish attacks this time which to me personally was a highlight J It’s not that jellyfish stings are very painful it’s more the anticipation of the next one coming that disturbs your peace of mind and thus slightly ruins the whole experience.

God’s wrath looming over the oil refinery?

So is the three plus hour ride from Austin worth the whole experience? You may ask yourself that as you unfold out of the car, slightly stiff and woozy, but once you lay on the beach after having set foot in the water and the waves started playing with you, the question becomes obsolete.

I’ve spent the whole of last week in Orlando. Or let’s say at the Hilton in Orlando. (Für Deutsch hier klicken) It could have basically been anywhere really, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference because as a conference participant you don’t get to see the outside world very often. This Orlando trip was exactly the one that I accompanied my husband to in the last two years, but back then I spent my

The oh-so-official-conference-me

time lazing by the pool and exploring Florida. Which didn’t bring in a lot of money or rather it was using up quite a bunch of dineros. That’s why this time around things were a little different: I had a boss to take care of and a mission to fulfill – keeping my boss happy and his schedule organized.

Upside-down house, view no. 1

Both of my tasks weren’t overly difficult to accomplish as my manager is a very easy-going person. If he gets his daily Starbucks Americano and enough water he’s usually a happy man. And his schedule was mostly taken care of before we even left the office. There was the eventual change of an appointment but nothing too wild. Thus I was able to attend many of the sessions and keynotes which were most interesting, inspiring, some right-out hilarious and all of them educating.

Taking a break (to catch up with my own paperless paperwork…) at the Starbucks-serving coffee place.

What struck me most about this conference is how much time you can spend in a windowless room, debating, hacking away on your laptop without ever seeing the light of day. One of my happiest moments last week was accordingly when my better half and I first managed to sneak out of the hotel for dinner. This was on Tuesday evening which is not bad at all as I’ve heard people almost brag about how they attended conferences where they first set foot outside the hotel when… well, when they left. After check-out. After like 4 or 5 days inside conference rooms, hotel rooms and hotel restaurants in a row. When I look at the official program of our conference week, our only moment outside would have consisted of a few steps to a bus that would have taken us to the Hard Rock Café/Hotel Orlando and then the same couple of steps to hop on the bus back to the Hilton. The thought sends chills down my spine. For I’m a sun worshiper. I need daylight in order to thrive. My better half calls me a little flower. Always the face in the sun. And it’s true. I need natural daylight like I need food. Not necessary sunny skies, otherwise I would have withered and died a long time ago during one of those grey winter months in Switzerland. But getting out of the AC’d (which I call “air chilling” rather than “air conditioning”) surroundings into the all-embracing warmth and the soft light of a late Orlando summer day was heaven for me.

Upside-down house, view no. 2

Another highlight that week was when I moved my butt to the gym and climbed onto the treadmill – imagine that being a highlight for me… to run on a treadmill!! And right after dinner at that. I did hill training as usual on the treadmill and my belly definitely wasn’t too happy about the steep uphill climb laden with fish and dessert and the likes. But I pulled it through anyway. I needed to loosen up those muscles and tendons that from slouching in chairs of doubtful posture-quality were rather tensed up and shortened. And the

And the not-so-official-conference-me 🙂

effort was totally worth it! I got myself nicely loosened up and could actually see myself making it through the remainder of the week. Which I did. And it was good. We had fun; lots of fun! Especially at the SNL-themed dress-up dinner on Friday which was hilarious. All those costumes, crazy! It was an intense week in which we got a lot of work done and got to take even more work back home. But that’s how it should be, I assume – to ensure we can return next year and do it all over again 🙂

It’s been two weeks since my last blog post – and almost three weeks since Merlin disappeared. (Für Deutsch hier klicken) And he hasn’t showed up since. Though I’m devastated and his absence really pains me that’s not the (only) reason I haven’t been writing lately. The last two weeks at work have been pretty crazy and I wanted to concentrate on what’s important: My (remaining) little family here – my husband and cat boy Oscar – me getting enough rest and only doing what I love most – as it turns out it’s neither writing nor doodling but reading.

Duke University Cathedral.

Last week was particularly busy at work and as usual everything went a little haywire but I was lucky enough to get Friday off to join my beloved better half to the 10 year reunion of his Duke MBA class. We flew out to Durham/Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday to enjoy a gorgeous day strolling about and marveling at the University buildings – after spending 4 hours in a pub. But don’t get me wrong: the hours in the pub – though spent in broad day- if not to say sunlight – were well spent: We met two of my better half’s class mates who live in the area and we had a fantastic time. Saturday the weather turned on us but we knew that in advance and decided to sleep in a little to catch up with the lack of sleep from the week before. That left us with enough time to browse the shops with all the Duke/Fuqua* gear, drive around town and have a look at the old tobacco warehouses and the rest of the University buildings before we had to get ready for the official reunion dinner. Only one of the classmates with her husband actually made it to the dinner, the other pal had to accompany his son to a soccer game in Myrtle Beach. Had the weather been as splendid as the day before, we may have taken his absence to such a (supposedly… I’ve never been to Myrtle Beach myself… yet) personal but in this wetness we knew he had to be Brazilian to still enjoy the game. Luckily, all the Global and Weekend MBA classes have been combined in one dinner location so we weren’t the only ones showing up. Meeting alumni from other classes was most interesting and we had some quite revealing and inspiring conversations.

Executive Assistant – Sometimes also “Miracle Worker”.

My other highlight last week was Wednesday, when North America was celebrating the Administrative Professionals Day, also known as Secretaries Day or Admin Day. As the name suggests, it recognizes the work of secretaries, administrative assistants, receptionists and

Appreciation from “my crew” – Thanks guys!

other administrative support professionals.1 And on this day, a mere three months into my new job, “my crew” showed me their amazing appreciation for the work I’ve been doing so far. Thank you so much guys, you’re wonderful! It’s a pleasure working with you! I feel truly honored to be able to work as an Executive Assistant again.

Finnish newspaper clipping showing my friend’s family’s wrecked car.

Now in this mixture of melancholy and exhilaration a dear friend of mine informed me of his own luck – under the circumstances… while he was still sending me his best wishes for Merlin’s reappearance he and his family experienced their very own tragedy. While on vacation in Finland a cement truck crashed into their stationary vehicle at a speed of 60km/h. They were incredibly lucky in all of this: The worst that has seemed to have happened is his wife suffering of a localized amnesia for a time span of 7 hours – apart from the usual whiplashes and contusions that the whole family sustained.

Merlin – as he will always remain in my memory.

After hearing this and knowing they are alive and as well as can be I’m incredibly grateful for the guardian angel watching over them. Whatever happened to Merlin, it’s not to be compared to four human lives. And though I feel justified in grieving at least a little for my little cat boy I know that life continues and will keep bringing on beautiful, amazing, awesome, inspiring but also gruesome, painful, devastating and grueling experiences. Just as it always has. And probably always will.

*My dear husband had to carefully teach me how to correctly pronounce Fuqua so as to not embarrass him in front of everyone (as I would have pronounced it in more of a “F-word” way). For all interested: It is pronounced like the English “few” and the French “quoi” – few-quoi.

Yesterday, my beloved husband and I went to San Antonio to meet a fellow Swiss and her better half. To do that, we girls had to shed the typical Swiss tendency to avoid meeting fellow countrymen (or in our case, women) abroad. To this very day it has remained a mystery to me where this unusual aversion of Swiss people to meet other Swiss abroad stems from. While kinsmen of other nations who meet abroad shake hands vigorously and pat each other’s backs in a most friendly manner as if they had just been barbecuing and drinking good amounts of beer together, Swiss in the same situation duck behind the next best shrubbery.

Anyway, the story that led to this meeting is quite unique and in fact began quite a while ago. My mum, who has the typical maternal network of friends, acquaintances and relatives, told me about a year ago that a girl who grew up just across the street from us had also married an American and was waiting for her visa to immigrate to the U.S. In the meanwhile she has been in the states for half a year and – can you believe it – she lives in San Antonio. We have to thank her husband, who is a marine, for this coincidence but since San Antonio is full of military bases his transfer into this region doesn’t seem so random after all.

The Tower of Americas, San Antonio’s tallest building.

Although we virtually grew up next to each other, I cannot remember ever having seen my neighbor. The situation, however, presents itself differently for our brothers. They seem to know each other fairly well, so well in fact, that my brother decided to name one of his sons, my nephew, after him. Well, it’s not too late for us girls to catch up and getting to know each other better and thus we are determined to soon meet up again, this time maybe in Austin, perhaps even for an exclusive gal’s day or night out. And without throwing ourselves behind the next best flower pots, promised!

One busy week comes to a close only to be followed by another busy one. (Für Deutsch hier klicken) I returned Thursday evening from Switzerland, only to empty the content of my suitcase either into the laundry basket (dirty laundry) or the freezer (all the chocolate 😉 before crashing into bed after a very long day of travel. Friday morning at 8:30 I was back at the office, spending my day by sorting out a time zone mix-up, reading up more stuff, socializing a little with my colleagues (though I was invited to spend lunch with the bunch of people sitting around me I had to decline – because they’re working for the west coast [Pacific Time] they only go for lunch at 2 pm so I already had my little break by that time), doing some more online training and chatting with my boss for a little while.

After having been surrounded by a nation of flu victims in Switzerland my body decided to take it a little slower over the weekend, too. I felt a little “cruddy” on Saturday but treated myself to an extra load of vitamins and sleep and accordingly felt much better today already. I hope it stays that way next week because – as mentioned – it will be a rather busy week. After certainly learning many new things in the office every day I’ll be looking after a neighbor’s cat (indoors cat so I’m eager to spend more than just the average 10 minutes per day with it), maybe moving garages and on Wednesday – yay – I’m getting to pick up my better half from the airport again. Yes, I shouldn’t be complaining at all – he had to leave for Seattle today at noon and will only be back Wednesday evening.

Cat in dire need for love.

That’s it for now, dear folks. I’m sorry about this rather brief report but I still have to translate these lines plus last week’s blog post. And also – there’s a cat very much in need of love sitting patiently on my lap while I’m writing this 😉

When I had closer look at the map of Las Vegas for the first time I was surprised to find “Downtown” to be quite a bit removed from the so-called “Las Vegas Strip”. By 2.5 miles to be exact. That is, 2.5 miles from our accommodation at the time, the Wynn Las Vegas. Of course, one is never really aware of these distances when looking at the surroundings from the average pedestrian’s perspective, i.e. from the ground. Thus, the Stratosphere Tower looked as if it sat just around the corner – only that there is no corner to be seen. But figuratively speaking. (Für Deutsch hier klicken)

Thinking that I’m light on my feet and therefore a distance like this would not easily bring me to my knees I made my way to the Stratosphere Tower. Though it was clear that exactly on that day at this hour no breeze could be felt and no cloud be seen anywhere. Accordingly hot it got on the road and I was working up a good sweat. But my hike should not remain the only thing that would cause me a sweat that day. When I arrived at the Stratosphere I was asked whether I simply wanted to enjoy the views or get the all-around package. Well, as you may know I am a quite adventurous person and don’t easily shy away from roller coasters. But what is on offer there tops even my sense of adventure: The roof of the observation tower houses four roller coaster-like attractions that were installed there to attract the real adrenaline junkies. For one you get to ride an actual roller coaster – the so called High Roller. Then you got a kind of lift that’s simulating a free fall that goes by the name of – guess what – Free Fall and then the two seemingly worst ones, a roller coaster rotating over the gaping abyss that is very aptly called Insanity and its in no way inferior counterpart, the Big Shot – a sort of swing that shoots out over the protective roof of the observation tower. The mere thought of the latter two made my blood run cold.

Anyway, I declined the adrenaline version with thanks and caught the elevator up to the observation deck. I walked towards the picture windows which – of course – ran from floor to ceiling. And were slightly tilted outwards so as to practically invite you to lean on the window and enjoy the feeling of floating above the abyss. Fortunately they have signs put up everywhere, prohibiting you of doing exactly that. So I made my way around the deck, enjoyed the views in every direction and took photos until I surprisingly found myself almost alone in front of the “main view” on Las Vegas and the Strip. Since I didn’t block anyone’s view I took my time and leaned comfortably against a pillar – when I suddenly sensed a falling motion out of the corner of my eye. Had there just fallen a person past me? That’s terrible!! But only a second later I realized that I had propped myself up right next to the bungee jumper’s glass box. So a person had indeed fallen (or rather jumped) off a platform right next to my head. When I sensed some feet dangling high above my head because I passed under the Insanity Ride a little later on it didn’t shake me quite as bad anymore. Nevertheless, I decided that instead of climbing up to the open-air roof I would enjoy a beer on one of the sofas behind the wind- and especially scream-proof glass. Seemed a lot more alluring to me.

The next time I moved to the northern part of the city I opted to catch the bus. This time my path led me to two museums: First, to the Mob Museum where I learned all sorts of things about the history of the American Mafia. Among other things, we got to sit in the very courtroom in which the biggest mob hearing in history took place. By means of videos we were taught all about exactly this incident. Where several Mafiosi invoked the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution which protects a witness from incriminating him-/ or herself.

The most interesting part of the whole exhibition was the direct reference to Las Vegas. How the mob disappeared to Las Vegas where it was legal to open casinos and gambling dens and was thus able to continue its lucrative business without problems. Which of the renowned casinos were actually opened by Mafia members. Pictures of Las Vegas from the early days. Where all you see is a motel complex and nothing but desert all around it. And it was impressively stated that there was no aspect of public trading in which the Mafia was (is?) not involved: Even the parsley trade was controlled by the mob! The guided tour was rounded off by the FBI’s view on the Mafia hunt.

It was already dark by the time I strolled from the Mob Museum to the Neon Museum. Which makes sense, for the Neon Sign Museum is a classic Las Vegas institution that collects and exhibits the neon signs of various, now demolished hotels and casinos. The transition from the Mob Museum to the Neon Museum is flowing, for here you get to see the neon signs of the hotels and casinos mentioned at the Mob Museum. Looking at some of the signs conjures up memories of old movies. Accordingly interesting and instructive was the guided tour through the so called neon sign bone yard. The visit to these two museums made my stay in Las Vegas really worthwhile. Because they taught me something about the city. They made me understand that even this most artificial of all artificial towns carries history and a certain culture.

For a city I didn’t necessarily want to return to I sure dedicated quite a lot of attention to Las Vegas. I think it shares a trait that has always allured me in humans: A certain dark side seems to inexplicably attract my attention. My conclusion: Las Vegas is well worth a visit. After three days, though, I wasn’t too sad to leave the city. On the one hand, the sensory overload is enormous. With every step you take you are accompanied by a soundtrack coming out of bushes or sidewalks, no yard passes by without a neon sign glaring down at you and there is something new to discover around each and every single corner. In addition, a never-ending busyness seems inherent in the city; be it the never-ending tourist flows, the business people hastily rushing through the hotel lobbies or the never resting slot machines – there’s constantly something going on. Furthermore, I’m still racking my brains over the city’s contrasts: On the one side, you got all the luxury brands ranging from Gucci and Rolex to Louis Vuitton and on the other side the ever-present homeless people on the pedestrian bridges. Then the magnificent buildings along the beaten path versus the partly run-down, somewhat dodgy neighborhoods whenever you leave the main arteries of the city. And last but not least the constant contrast between the evergreen golf courses and the surrounding desert. No, I couldn’t shed my ambivalence towards the gambling paradise. But I have to admit that the fascination of the place has absolutely justified during those three days.